BROWN SHOE COMPANY INC. OPENS 350,000-SQUARE-FOOT DISTRIBUTION CENTER

LEBEC, CALIF. — Brown Shoe Company Inc. has completed the development of its 350,000-square-foot Famous Footwear Distribution Center, which is located within Tejon Industrial Complex (TIC) in Lebec. According to Brown Shoe’s chairman and CEO, the new facility has an annual capacity of 32 million pairs of shoes and expected inventory turns of 17 to 22 times per year. The facility will serve all Famous Footwear stores located west of the Rocky Mountains and direct shipping to customers in that geographic region. Brown Shoe partnered with Fortna Inc., a supply chain strategy, design and implementation firm, to create a state-of-the-art logistics system for the new center. The facility features a cross belt unit sortation system, multiple sliding shoe sorters, a high-density storage and picking module, new warehouse management software and FortnaWCS, the Fortna warehouse control system. Clayco Inc., a St. Louis-based corporate real estate design-build and construction firm, owns the property, which is being leased to Brown Shoe.